Flint

[Pete]

I don't know the numbers but until recently OKC had a very high percentage of chain restaurants and now we're seeing a big shift to locally owned places.

[Dubya61]

That's great, IMO. Do you think we'll start to see a reduction in national chains? is there a natural ebb and flow that will cause national chains to reduce or at least not increase?

[Pete]

That's great, IMO. Do you think we'll start to see a reduction in national chains? is there a natural ebb and flow that will cause national chains to reduce or at least not increase?

I don't think there will be a reduction in chains as many are still coming to OKC, I just think their market share will decrease over time by the local operations.

[soonerguru]

I don't think there will be a reduction in chains as many are still coming to OKC, I just think their market share will decrease over time by the local operations.

Other than the occasional fast food jaunt, we rarely eat at chain restaurants, and only when extended family sets up the dinner. In the last six months, I've eaten at chain restaurants in OKC twice -- both due to extended family choosing the restaurant -- and I eat out fairly frequently.

[Teo9969]

There are still plenty of chains in OKC, but as this forum focuses primarily on the inner-core where there are nearly no chains, the dialogue sometimes seems to get contorted.

Memorial, Expressway, I-240 are not exactly populated with local restaurants, and they all represent major urban centers in OKC.

Memorial recently though, seems to be breaking that trend and gaining its fair share of local joints, which is a major positive.

[Paseofreak]

I know a bunch of top flight service industry folks that were enticed to Vast and only stayed a few weeks before moving on. I'm told that money was not issue. Piss poor managers trying to run professionals as if they were first time high school aged staff at Applebee's was.

[Pete]

Well, that says a lot right there. If they are going to treat somebody rudely who had trusted them to offer pleasant service to 300, why would they care about 1 or 2?

Our group spent about $20,000 on that event and as the point person I was treated rudely then pretty much ignored the rest of the night.

The meeting space in both Devon and the Colcord has an odd arrangement where the event planning people all work for the Colcord but all the food and beverage people work for Williams Associates. So, there were communication issues where I was told one thing by a Colcord person then another by the Williams staff.

I really liked the people at the Colcord and had the strong impression they grudgingly put up with the people they had to work with on the other side.

[turnpup]

My husband and I thought it'd be fun to have dinner downtown on Christmas night. Flint was open, so that's where we decided to go. We will not likely go back, as we can easily spend $100+ in a much more tasty and pleasant way elsewhere (such as my favorite special treat, Ranch Steakhouse, which I think was closed last night).

We arrived and were seated immediately. The restaurant was fairly full, with an eclectic mix of old and young, babies, different races, etc. That was nice to see. Downtown is certainly happening, even on a night when many people are staying home or are out of town.

The restaurant was drafty and kind of cold. Our candle wasn't lit, while most of the ones on the other tables were. When we were seated, the hostess gave us the menu, and we both ordered water to drink, which was also brought by the hostess. The menu was very limited in choice (not like what's listed on their website, which looks much more varied and better), with only three or four entrees from which to choose. Perhaps it was that way because of Christmas. About 5 minutes later a young man came to our table and said he'd be our server. He turned to leave and we told him we were ready to order. I ordered the NY strip steak. It was $43, and included two side dishes (I chose green beans and a salad). My husband ordered the pork loin, and the server replied that it was all sold out. The next choice was to order what I had ordered (with mashed potatoes and salad as his sides). We both asked for the steak to be cooked medium well.

The salads came out fairly quickly, delivered to us by someone other than our server. They were all right, but rather small. Very basic, just a spring mix with some cherry tomatoes. We were not asked if we wanted cracked pepper, nor was there any salt or pepper on the table.

Somewhere between the salad and main course, a female staff member came to refill our waters. She spilled a pretty big amount of water on the table next to my glass. She apologized and I said that it was no big deal. She never came back to clean it up, though. Maybe I was too nice? So I had a big splat of water on the table the rest of the meal. It was difficult avoiding getting my sleeve in the spill. I figured I could ask the server for a napkin the next time he came by. Except he never came by.

The entrees were delivered by yet another staff member, not our server. Our empty salad bowls were not taken away, so we had to scoot them over in order to receive our entree plates. The person delivering the food didn't ask us to cut into our steaks to check the doneness. He didn't take away our empty bowls, either. He just left.

My husband's steak was VERY rare, to the point where it was bloody on the plate once he cut into it. Mine was somewhere in the medium-rare category. I offered to trade with him, but he said he could eat it if he didn't look at it. I figured we might point it out to the server when he came by to check on us. Alas, he never came. The meat itself was about the quality you'd get if you went to a Sizzlin' Sirloin. It was edible, but not terribly tender. There was quite a bit of fat on it.

My husband's side dish was mashed potatoes. He said they were all right, but that the gravy tasted like it was out of a can. Nothing special. My green beans were fairly good, except that they were smothered in onions. I HATE onions, and am always careful to read the menu so as to avoid dishes with onions. The menu on these said "green beans with mushrooms and butter" and never mentioned onions. I picked them out of the beans, but there was still a lingering oniony after taste.

We spent about 30 minutes eating our main course. My husband drank all of his water. No sign of our server. He walked past us at least five times and never slowed down. He took the order from the table right next to us. We sat and sat, but he never even gave us a second glance. Finally, I got up and went to the restroom. When I came back, my husband was holding the receipt. He said that the server had come to the table and presented the ticket, not even asking about the food, or asking if we needed anything else. When my husband asked him for more water, he said the server seemed a bit off-put about getting it for him.

The total bill was $93.20. For 2 entrees and ice water. We are generally exceptional tippers, but it was all we could do to give this young man $12. If he had even been slightly nice or attentive to us, I guarantee he would've gotten at least $20. Probably $30 because it was Christmas. His loss.

So we spent a total of $105.20 last night on a lackluster dinner. We agreed that the ambience was fantastic. It was fun being downtown. The Concord is a beautiful facility (ladies, note the countertops in the lobby restroom next time you're there). The valet parkers were great. They were all very friendly, fast and even rushed to open the door to the restaurant for me when I returned from the ladies room. Those guys should've been in the restaurant serving. They would've made out like bandits. My husband tipped them nicely when our car was brought to us after the meal.

We will take our business elsewhere in the future. We're not food snobs at all, and are generally pretty easy to please. But we should've gotten much more for that amount of money. There is an expectation that a person should have attentive, reliable service at a restaurant like Flint. The food should be better quality, and prepared properly. It was not even close to being up to par. Had we seen a manager anywhere we would've spoken to him/her about the experience. We didn't see a manager, though, and decided to just leave it alone rather than having to ask, and then wait, to talk to him/her. I was cold and wanted to get into the warm car at that point.

[kevinpate]

Thanks for that review. I was hoping this establishment had now been open long enough now that it would be running smoothly. Your experience suggests quite strongly there is no need as yet to go rushing in for a try.

[Pete]

Remember too that it -- along with Vast -- just switched management a few months ago.

[turnpup]

I haven't been back to Vast for a meal since December of 2012. Pretty much the same experience. I do hope that these two places can get their acts together.

[Bullbear]

pretty close to the experince I had there 12/13/14.. we have had great meals there before but we were not impressed a few weeks back. food wasn't good and certainly not up to the price.. and service was crap. hope they can get ahold of things as its a great space.

[Chadanth]

Last time I was there was last December, and I see there is no need to return at this time.

[ljbab728]

Just because you don't see a manager to talk to at this restaurant doesn't mean you shouldn't contact them in another way. They need to know about problems without having to read a review at OKC TALK. I've never eaten there so I don't have any past experience to go by but it seems to me that many places that are open on Christmas may not have their best staff that day.

[kevinpate]

Remember too that it -- along with Vast -- just switched management a few months ago.

True, and I've not written either place onto a never ever bother list.
But they do not yet sound ready for a spot on the I'll gladly shift my plans to mesh with their availability list either.

[TheTravellers]

Thanks for the info, turnpup, we heard it was still flaky, and enough time has elapsed since the mgmt change so that they should have their sh*t together by now, I'd think. Guess not, it's still at the bottom of our "to try" list for now...

However, not to pile on, but I'm wondering why neither of y'all just grabbed a server (any server), waved your hands around, did something to get their attention, and then asked to see a manager? I read about folks holding on the phone for 30 minutes waiting to place a to-go order (not here, obviously), or waiting 15 minutes for a menu, or other things like that. I would hang up after less than 5 minutes on hold for a to-go order, I would ask the next employee who walks by for a menu or to find my server (even if it's bus staff that don't speak English well), I've had to ask a server to see a manager, I take things into my own hands when things turn crappy at a restaurant, I don't wait for the obviously half-assed staff to suddenly get a clue and start working correctly, 'cos that ain't gonna happen. Just something to think about when you go to Flint again.

[Richard at Remax]

How it is still ranked #3 restaurant on tripadvisor confusing to me

[turnpup]

However, not to pile on, but I'm wondering why neither of y'all just grabbed a server (any server), waved your hands around, did something to get their attention, and then asked to see a manager?

You know, I guess maybe because it was Christmas and I didn't have it in me to be an asshole that night. Trust me, I do have that capability. No problems there. If I want, I can certainly cause a stink with the best of them. : )

That night, it just didn't seem appropriate.

[TheTravellers]

You know, I guess maybe because it was Christmas and I didn't have it in me to be an asshole that night. Trust me, I do have that capability. No problems there. If I want, I can certainly cause a stink with the best of them. : )

That night, it just didn't seem appropriate.

Heh, I understand. My tolerance was would've been lower probably *because* it was Christmas night - just so you know where I'm coming from, I honked at about a dozen idiots on Christmas Eve.

[Mr. Cotter]

That's in line with my recent experiences there. The breakfast is good, dinner is okay, and service is almost always awful. The last time we were there, the hostess was annoyed we didn't have reservations, and there might have been four other tables of small parties.

We've used this as a pretty place to get dinner downtown when we need it. I think Broadway 10 might be filling that need going forward.

[edcrunk]

I got hired at FLINT about a month ago, so I'm back at The Colcord after a 4 year hiatus! No more filming of videos on the roof tho. Michael O'hara was recently hired as the GM (they were without one for months) and is doing a fantastic job. He has assembled a great team and I'm glad to be a part of it. I'm still trying stuff off of the new summer menu, and have been thoroughly impressed thus far.

[Chadanth]

I got hired at FLINT about a month ago, so I'm back at The Colcord after a 4 year hiatus! No more filming of videos on the roof tho. Michael O'hara was recently hired as the GM (they were without one for months) and is doing a fantastic job. He has assembled a great team and I'm glad to be a part of it. I'm still trying stuff off of the new summer menu, and have been thoroughly impressed thus far.

Maybe I'll try it again, it's been about a year and the service was awful the few times I did go.

[Lauri101]

OOur lead attorney and I went to lunch yesterday and the food and service were both awesome!

The lunch specials include vegetarian options (atty said the vegan panini was to die for) and the turkey burger was juicy and well seasoned. It's so difficult to find a turkey burger in a beef state, so that alone will keep me going back.

I was very impressed with the service we got from charming Sarah. She was attentive without being intrusive and made sure we had what we needed. Flint is my new go-to place for the rare times I eat lunch out while downtown.

100 more days, and my 33 years as a downtown worker come to an end. Even so, I suspect Flint will be on my rotation if I visit my colleagues to gloat over retirement.

[Roger S]

....t's so difficult to find a turkey burger in a beef state, so that alone will keep me going back.

Hmmmm... Irma's... Tucker's... The Garage.. S&B... Those are all some heavy hitters in the OKC burger market that serve turkey burgers.

Urban Johnnie's serves chicken burgers.

[ctchandler]

100 more days, and my 33 years as a downtown worker come to an end. Even so, I suspect Flint will be on my rotation if I visit my colleagues to gloat over retirement.

Lauri,
I told my working friends that every weekend was a three day weekend, and I took two month long vacations (very true, to England, Ireland, et al), and when I got up in the morning, I didn't do anything and I didn't start that till noon. You can really rub it in.
C. T.